ABOUT ME

I am a multi genre author from India but if I have to be slotted, it will have to be as a children’s author because I have more books out for children. But again, many adults have told me they have enjoyed my books for children so I will do away with the slotting and say that I write fiction; the format doesn’t matter.

I’ve written novels, a novella, short chapter books, short stories, and also picture books. My books for adults are written while I take a break from writing for children and vice versa. I also write under two pen names – Heera Datta and Jessica Spencer.

I was always a storyteller. Even as a child, I loved weaving stories but I did not attempt to write them. My earliest writing was for the school house magazine and for various competitions. It was mostly essays or a creative writing piece on a given topic.

I wrote my first story when I was thirty-four. An English professor gave me some valuable tips to improve it. Since then it has been a long learning curve. Fifteen years after that first story, I was a published author. Today I have twenty-nine titles out.

In an earlier life that I voluntarily quit, I was a senior manager in State Bank of Hyderabad, where I worked for twenty-six years. I took early retirement in 2011 to become a fulltime writer.

I was born in Gorakhpur and grew up in Hyderabad, where I live to this day with my husband and son. I am married to a physics professor and am a post graduate in Mathematics.

I have always loved reading. I also enjoy music and art, and visiting places of natural beauty.